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Friday, October 7, 2016

American Honey

Andrea Arnold’s films are unique and bold, singularly
realized. Heavy on story, emotion, and feeling; void of plot and convention. Her
latest, the captivating epic, American
Honey, dutifully follows suit with Arnold’s style. And thank God. There’s
no one currently making movies the way Andrea Arnold makes them. Every time she
releases a film, she subsequently breathes life into the medium. Hyperbolic
praise, perhaps, but truth be told, certainly.

American Honey is
about Star (Sasha Lane, in an astonishing debut performance), an 18-year-old with a heavy
heart and a white-trash upbringing. Star is lost. She’s taking care of kids who
aren’t hers, digging food out of dumpsters to survive. When her boyfriend
drunkenly demands an impromptu dance in the living room, Star recoils in his
arms and cries. What hell has this poor girl endured? Star senses a chance for
a new start, and she flees. She joins a group of rowdy kids who make a living
selling magazines door-to-door. “People don’t give a shit about magazines,” one
kid dryly notes. “We’re not selling magazines, we’re selling ourselves.” To do
this, the kids make up stories to would-be customers. I’m an impoverished youth looking to put myself through school, My school needs funds to build a new
cafeteria, My church needs
renovations, and on and on.

The group is made up of lively, misfit kids, many under the
age of 18. They bottle drink cheap vodka and share joints before work. They
chain smoke cigarettes, eat gas station food, play fight, hook up, crash in motels.
They get by. It’s a hard life, but, we suspect, one easier than they’re used
to. Some kids stand out. In addition to Star, there’s the group’s assumed hero,
Jake (Shia LaBeouf, a radiant portrait of emotional contradiction), who Star
takes a liking to. And the group’s hardass boss, Krystal (Riley Keough, on fire
following her work on the best television show of the year, The Girlfriend Experience).

Watching American
Honey is a unique experience, because Arnold is so expert at blurring
reality and film. There is only one stylized shot in the whole film (a slow
motion shot of Star jumping in a pool), all of the songs are diegetic (they
originate from sources on the screen – car radios, TVs, stereos), and the
majority of the film’s stars are virtual unknowns (save LaBeouf, Keough, and a
cameo from a great character actor).

American Honey was
shot with a minimal crew utilizing handheld cameras and natural light. There’s
no waiting for hours between shot set ups on an Arnold set. Instead, Arnold and
her cast use that extra time to capture footage. A lot of it is scripted, much
of it is improvised. The fact that you can’t tell the difference is a testament
to Arnold’s writing and the raw talent of her actors.

The prospect of a new Andrea Arnold film is extremely
exciting. She takes a while between films (her last feature, Wuthering Heights, came out in 2011),
delicately prepping the material and fine-tuning her eclectic cast. I carry a
lot of expectations with me into an Arnold film (her 2009 feature, Fish Tank, is one of the best movies
I’ve ever seen), and something as big and beautiful as American Honey certainly did not disappoint. Though, admittedly,
the film is a hard sell for non-Arnold loyalists. In addition to its lack of
known talent, the film is 2 hours and 43 minutes long, takes place in lost Midwest
locations (Muskogee, Oklahoma; Mission Hills, Kansas; Grand Island, Nebraska;
etc.), and is shot in Arnold’s preferred 4:3 aspect ratio.

Arnold’s choice of aspect ratio is important. What 4:3 does is
essentially turn the screen into a square, like and old television. Today,
we’re used to wide rectangular aspect ratios that display as much frame as
possible. But, according to Arnold, the 4:3 ratio gives films a specific
intimacy that widescreen lacks. “I think I like 4:3 because my
films are mostly about one person,” Arnold has said. “I’m following that one
person and I’m keen on that one person. It’s a very respectful and beautiful
frame for one person.”

It’s true, watching American
Honey (or Fish Tank, or Wuthering Heights), the square ratio traps
us in the plight of the main female character on screen. It’s a courageous, striking
choice, one that filmmakers rarely make any more for the duration of their
movies.

You’ll have to forgive me. I haven’t done a thorough job explaining what American Honey is
about, and the arcs of the characters in it. I’d rather have you discover that for yourself. But by way of enticement, I’ll leave you with a description of
one sequence from the film, which is the best scene I’ve witnessed from a movie
in 2016.

As American Honey
approaches its second hour, Star and the rest of the girls are being driven in
a van by Krystal, who is about to drop them off to begin the day’s work. As
motivation for the day, Krystal starts playing Rihanna’s “We Found Love.” The
song is a sort of anthem for the crew, and when they hear it, they get amped.
As the song blares, Star sings along and smiles. For the first time in the
film, Star looks content, at peace with her place in the world. Seeing this, I
found myself overcome with emotion, and began to cry. I wondered how long Star’s
peace would last. And if she’d ever get to feel it again. A

20 comments:

I’m quite excited for this. Reading your description of that scene with the Calvin Harris hit, it made me imagine the whole feeling, and I have a soft spot for that kind of lost characters. Actually, I’m writing a story about a young female character who leads a pretty “miserable” life in the Midwest. I love Arnold films too. Kate Dickie’s performance totally devastated me in Red Road. And I really like her use of 4:3. On Fish Tank, I felt like I was looking into the life of someone through a window. I liked Wuthering Heights too. The way she bravely approached a classic made me feel like she stripped down Brontë’s words and make the story more relatable and universal. She captured the scenery perfectly even using that ratio. You could almost breathe the air of the raw and inhospitable English moors where the family lived. As much as I was expecting to see Kaya Scodelario (as I loved her in Skins), I liked better the first half though; the younger actors were terrific. You’ve mentioned that the leading girl has made her debut here, in American Honey, and I also read about it when they premiered it at Cannes. I hope she gets more roles in the future, if she was that good, because as much as I liked Katie Jarvis’ performance in Fish Tank, sadly, she hasn’t done much since then. I don’t know if it’s a personal choice to stay out of the film industry, but I think it’s such a pity as she had a lot of potential. Fassbender was terrific there too, and Harry Treadaway didn’t have much screen-time, but he’s another favorite of mine. Oh and I can’t wait to see Riley Keough on that TV show you’ve mentioned. Talking about female directors, I recently watched two films directed by women, Sky and For Ellen. I don’t know if you’ve watched them, they were not especially awesome, but both of them had interesting things and I enjoyed them. Oh and I finally watched Sicario and liked it a lot. Can’t believe Benicio del Toro didn’t get more recognition and by that I mean awards (I don’t know why that surprises me, ‘cause they tend to disappoint me) because that was one hell of a performance! I also watched Macbeth and that actually disappointed me. I didn’t even feel engaged by Cotillard and Fassbender’s (and you know I love him as much as you do) performances. Maybe it’s because Macbeth is one of my favorite plays by Shakespeare alongside Hamlet (which to me it’s his best) and I felt like Kurzel didn’t managed to adapt it well. It had a Valhalla Rising vibe in some scenes, which I liked, but it lacked the spookiness of the play, the plot got a bit messy and I didn’t feel the characters’ motivations as you feel them on the play. I guess it’s just not easy to adapt Shakespeare.

It is a shame that Jarvis didn't act in anything else, but I suppose a life in the spotlight isn't for everyone. It looks like Lane has already booked more acting gigs, which is great.

I haven't seen Sky or For Ellen, but your recommendation is certainly enough for me to give them a watch. I liked Macbeth a little more than you, but I hear what you're saying. I thought it was visually astounding but emotionally a little empty. I still loved watching those two on screen together though.

I saw a trailer for this a while back and thought it might be something I'd enjoy. I loved Fish Tank and Wuthering Heights is in my Netflix queue. I had no idea it has such a hefty run time though. That surprises me.

I promise the run time flys by. I could've kept watching for 3 more hours. Plus, it won't really work against the film if you watch it in 2 or 3 sittings. Not ideal, but that could make it more manageable, you know?

Oh my god, your review's got me more excited for this movie now. Hopefully this will release in my part of the UK. Miss Arnold's sure kept me waiting for this, I have legit been keeping an eye out for this since it was announced and am so happy with the buzz it's gotten. Now, let's just hope that it does nicely at the lovely Box Office.

I finally watched American Honey! Agreed on everything you wrote about it. LaBeouf surprised me, I’ve never liked him as much as in this film. He was really good, so full of emotions and very natural. Before, I always felt like he was lacking something, like he didn’t look at ease with the role. And I hope Andrea Arnold would never stop working with Robbie Ryan, he’s one of my favorite directors of photography.

By the way, as I know you love Riley Keough as much as I do (I’ve been loving her since her little role in Magic Mike) have you seen the news about her being on the next Lars von Trier film? They say the story centers around a serial killer and he's also cast Sofie Gråbøl (she’s a very good Danish actress, I discovered her on the tv series Forbrydelsen and she also was in Nattevagten, don't know if you've seen that film but they even did a remake with Ewan McGregor), so it sounds quite interesting.

Sooo happy you liked this one. I've still only seen it once and would love to check it out again. I'm really excited for what Riley Keough is doing right now. I'm thrilled to see her new work. I think she and von Trier will do great work together.